Seems like this game goes back to the concept 'space is so blue that fish can swim in it' from WC3... Cool stuff, BTW!
They made the screen blue in WC3 for technical reason didn't they..something about it being easier to run than trying to make it all black.
The game will not be played against a blue screen all of the time, firstly. Secondly, you have to remember that this game (unlike WC3, which I am not even going to try to explain because that discussion has no place in this thread) does NOT put you in command of an actual fighter. In reality what you would be looking at in this game would be some sort of computer terminal display screen showing where all the ships were. As such, whatever color the background is certainly represents space, but it is not as if you are looking AT space. You probably don't even notice this, but the black on your computer screen is not just black, as in, there are no pixels there. There is a display of a black pixel there, which means that it will never truly be "black".
Sure sounded like you did. I've got that work finished Casper, just lemme know how ta get 'em to you, and could you scroll back through the thread and answer my questions on my older post? I'm really curious...
Just zip and email all the files to casper@solsector.net if you can - they shouldn't be very large. Now for the questions: 1) zooming works, but only smoothly after you pause - basically you type in any zoom factor you'd like, and the detail map will scale to that number - the overall map currently does not zoom 2) group selection works - click-drag to select a wing and give orders (right-click) normally - units will also move in the formation that they were in when selected - missile salvoes also work (telling 4 or 6 fighters to all fire a Tracker MIRV is very cool) 3) naming is not implemented, but shouldn't be too hard to add - I'll do it when I have time 4) radar is not implemented yet - both you and any AI players can see all of the map and all units - like naming, though, not too hard to implement 5) stealth - same as naming 6) campaign handling - same as naming - I'll have a few quick missions available when it's released 7) I need to learn more about Java network support before adding multiplayer - consider it on the drawing board 8) BW and BL players are already supported - all that needs to be added are the ship definition files I hope that'll satisfy some issues one more thing - right now, AI is simply "everyone find the nearest target and attack it" - feel free to post suggestions [Screenshot removed 7-16-2005]
AI Suggestions: Can you specify for bombers to pursue capital ships and fighters to pursue other fighters? Looking at the latest screenshot makes me wonder, is it possible to specificy for bombers to launch torpedoes like fighters can launch MIRVs? Also, is it possible that you can Arrange for ships to stand at a certain point, and intercept any ships that pass within X amount of distance? That would be a really nice option for screening your carrier Force. Even better would be if they could move while doing it, so they could screen a bomber strike moving against a capital ship. It would be nice too if you could program in basic evasion techniques and make the fighters take into account how many ships they are facing... IE: If there is one friendly fighter against Six he turns tail and runs instead of engaging. It would be nice also to put them in patrol mode, IE: The fly around and FIND the enemy ships, but don't destroy them, either they shadow them from a safe range, or simply return to the carrier. This would be more dependent on the implmentation of radar ranges and such, however. Something else that would be nice to implment would be nav points, or call them waypoints, set a patrol path for the fighter to fly, or an area for him to patrol. ***** To sum up, if it were me I would simply give the player a few differant hoices of what "mode" to put the fighters in: 1) Seek and Destroy - fly a pattern around the map and kill all the enemy fighters it finds. 2) Escort - Defend a capital ship, fighter, transport, or bomber from attack by attacking anything that comes near it...and if range gets to far from the escort target, break off and return to escort formation 3) Patrol - search for enemy fighters without engaging them 4) Interception - screen a force or stationary target from attack by fighters/bombers/torpedoes 5) Fighter Sweep - When you have located a large enemy force you can specifiy for all fighters in a wing or a group, or even just one, to speficially target the fighters for destruction 6) Capital Sweep - When you have located a large enemy force you can specifiy for all fighters/bombers in a wing or a group, or even just one to specifically target capital ships for destruction. Notes: Obviously in 5-6 the fighters/bombers would ignore whatever was attacking them and simply concentrate on killing the target. Depending on game limits you may need a "Deploy Minefield" option and a "Clear Minefield" option as well, but I'm not sure if you're planning on having mines in this game at all. ***** Questions: 1) How much control will be given over the Carrier itself? 2) Will the carrier sail around independently or fly with a Carrier Battle Group & Escorts? 3) How much control will be given over the escorting ships and/or their respective flight wings (In the case of an escorting cruiser, for example)? 4) Will Planets/Stations be included in the game? 5) Will the player have to manage the supplies of fuel and missiles on board the carrier?
the modes are good ideas, but I think having units operate too independently is a bad idea - also, because those are much higher levels of abstraction code-wise, they'll be tough to code (right now) - I still need to do ship launching and recovery, so carriers are in progress right now - stopping and moving any ship you control works, though - with the inheritance hierarchy I have right now, a fighter and a capship are not really different kinds of objects - they just have different weapons, shields, masses, radii, speeds, etc. - so escorts will be in-game - if you group-select them with the carrier, they'll move in formation - a cruiser should be treated just like a carrier, so you'll be able to launch fighters from it as well - planets and other fixed bodies drag with them the problems of unit pathfinding, so no planets yet... - resource management is still up in the air - maybe you are limited by the total number of pilots? like I've said before, it's a lot for one person - be patient, and I think you'll like the game when it comes out
No news from CAG? Well it's been more than one year since WC CAG 1.0 was released and there's been no news since in this thread. No opinions by anyone? I just downleaded it yesterday and enjoy it so much. I wonder whether the project has been abandoned or there shall be any update. Casper, did you ever think of building a level editor? Am I writing in the right thread??
Probably best to try to email him. casper@solsector.net He's been around this year, but it doesn't seem that anything's been done with CAG at all.
I tried emailing him about this a week ago, or so. I haven't gotten a response yet but it's possible he's just been busy. I'd like to see this project continue as well, I still have a copy of CAG on every computer I game on here at the house and play it regularly.
